TAMPA, Florida – A US Muslim advocacy group has called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to add hate crime charges to a man who ran down a Florida road worker with a Middle Eastern complexion.
"Because of the apparent bias motive in this case, state and federal law enforcement authorities should consider adding appropriate hate crime charges," Ramzy Kilic, director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa) said in a press release.
Last Thursday, authorities said that Gerald Christopher Prebe, 35, was accused of running into 53-year-old Terry Butler, a non-Muslim, with a motor vehicle.
A few moments before being attacked, Butler had just finished painting stripes on a nearby road and was on his break in the area.
Prebe sideswiped Butler's truck and hit Butler, throwing him about 20 feet from the point of impact, police sources said.
The African-American victim was hospitalized due to a fractured neck and internal bleeding.
Prebe was originally charged with aggravated battery.
Later on, he reportedly told investigators he "thought the worker was a terrorist, possibly of Middle Eastern descent, and wanted to kill him."
Investigating possible hate crime charges, the police raised charges to attempted murder after interviewing Prebe.
The new attack was condemned as a continuation of a recent series of attacks targeting Muslim community.
"We believe these types of incidents are an inevitable result of the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in American society," said Kilic, the director of CAIR-Tampa.
Kilic noted that CAIR recently called for a hate crime investigation of two apparently bias-motivated attacks on a Georgia mosque.
Vandals twice this month shattered doors and windows of the Islamic Center of Cartersville with rocks, one of which was reportedly painted with "Muslim murderers."
Earlier, CAIR called on law enforcement authorities to investigate a "terrorist threat" and desecrated religious texts that were used to target a Missouri mosque.
“Safety Kit”
Noticing growing attacks targeting Muslim and Arab minorities in the US, CAIR released its safety kit enabling Muslims to report and face such attacks.
“This ‘Muslim Community Safety Kit’ has been developed to better equip you and your community with the knowledge necessary to protect against anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bigotry or attacks, and to secure your basic legal rights,” the kit published on Saturday, April 30, on CAIR’s website said.
“In times of difficulty, we ask people to depend on God the Almighty, with sincere prayers, especially for those who are suffering.”
The kit, addressed to imams, activists, community leaders and US Muslim community, urged them to participate in ensuring the safety and security of the American nation.
It also urges them to report any suspicious persons or activities in their community to the local FBI office.
Other recommendations include developing a legal contact list, developing positive relationships with law enforcement agencies and building coalitions with interfaith and minority groups.
Since 9/11, US Muslims, estimated between six to seven million, have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights, with a prevailing belief that America was stigmatizing their faith.
Anti-Muslim frenzy has grown sharply in the US in recent months over plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York, resulting in attacks on Muslims and their property.
A Republican Senator stirred uproar last month over holding a probe into what he called “radicalization” of American Muslims.
Peter King, the chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee, claims that US Muslims are being radicalized by Al-Qaeda operatives, accusing Muslim leaders of not cooperating with law enforcement authorities in fighting terrorism.
Worse still, lawmakers in at least 13 states have introduced proposals to ban Shari`ah.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Saturday, April 30th 2011 at 3:45PM
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